GENEVA, N.Y. -- Senior Colleen Fluck's (Cicero-North Syracuse/North Syracuse, N.Y.) goal with 53 seconds remaining in the second of two overtime sessions gave Nazareth College a 13-12 victory over host William Smith College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. Fluck delivered the game-winning tally on an assist from junior Sue Hollister (West Genesee/Syracuse, N.Y.), and sophomore goalie Teryn Wineburg (Auburn/Auburn, N.Y.) recorded 18 saves to give the Golden Flyers (16-3) their first NCAA Tournament win in their inaugural appearance. The Herons (11-2) suffered their third loss in 11 NCAA home games.

In the initial three-minute overtime period, William Smith claimed a 12-11 advantage on an unassisted goal by first-year Jackie Toner (Geneva/Geneva, N.Y.) with 1:14 remaining. Toner's third score of the afternoon gave William Smith its first lead since the opening six minutes, 27 seconds, of the first half. Fluck assisted on Hollister's second goal of the day to knot the score at 12-12 with 19 seconds left for the third and final tie of the contest.

William Smith took an early 2-0 lead on goals by Toner and sophomore Gwen Parker (Woodstock/Brownsville, Vt.) in the opening 3:04. Nazareth proceeded to net five unanswered scores, two by senior Maya Lambiase (Irondequoit/Rochester, N.Y.), to seize a 5-2 advantage just over 18 minutes left in the opening half.

With Nazareth leading 7-4 at the 4:39 mark of the first half, the Herons received goals from first-year Megan Shea (Mountain Lakes/Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and senior Danae Nason-Junco (BB&N/Boston, Mass.) in a span of 49 seconds to make it 7-6 with 2:04 remaining until halftime.

Lambiase had two unassisted goals in the opening 7:27 of the second stanza to give Nazareth a 9-6 lead. William Smith halted its scoring drought of 17 minutes, seven seconds, when junior Meghan Genovese (Geneva/Geneva, N.Y.) fired a shot past Wineburg with exactly 15 minutes left in regulation. Nazareth senior Sarah Burns (Cicero-North Syracuse/Cicero, N.Y.) gave her team an 11-7 lead at the 8:37 mark, but the Herons held the Golden Flyers scoreless for the next 11 minutes, 18 seconds.

William Smith sophomore Susanna Young (Cleveland/Cleveland Heights, Ohio), Toner, and junior Jennifer Faith (Spring-Ford/Schwenksville, Pa.) all scored to reduce the deficit to 11-10 with 5:07 left in regulation. Senior Rebecca Armiger's (Centennial/Baltimore, Md.) career-high matching fourth assist of the day came on first-year Amanda Wynn's (Loomis Chaffee/Aspen, Colo.) equalizer at the 2:20 mark. Armiger became just the seventh Heron to hand out 50 career assists.

Nazareth was led by Lambiase, who finished with a game-high four goals and one assist. Hollister had two goals and one assist, while Burns and first-year Lorra Podsiadlo (Penn Yan/Penn Yan, N.Y.) added two goals apiece.

For William Smith, senior goalkeeper Leslie Khachadourian (Guilderland/Albany, N.Y.) stopped 10 Golden Flyer shots on goal to conclude her four-year career with 520 saves, No. 2 on the school's list. Genovese and Parker both deposited a pair of goals, Shea delivered one goal and two assists, and Nason-Junco had one goal and one assist.

The Golden Flyers take on host Middlebury College on Sun., May 14, at a time to be announced. The Panthers advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a 24-5 romp over Plymouth State this morning.

Scoring 1 2 OT OT Final
Nazareth (16-3) 7 4 1 1 13
William Smith (11-2) 6 5 1 0 12

Individual Scoring (goals-assists): Nazareth - Maya Lambiase 4-1, Sue Hollister 2-1, Sarah Burns 2-0, Lorra Podsiadlo 2-0, Allison Roberts 1-1, Colleen Fluck 1-1, Ellen Fanning 1-0, Cheryl Morgan 0-1, Jennifer Felber 0-1. William Smith - Rebecca Armiger 0-4, Jackie Toner 3-0, Megan Shea 1-2, Meghan Genovese 2-0, Gwen Parker 2-0, Danae Nason-Junco 1-1, Amanda Wynn 1-0, Jennifer Faith 1-0, Susanna Young 1-0.

Saves: Nazareth 18 (Teryn Wineburg). William Smith 10 (Leslie Khachadourian).

Shots: William Smith 44, Nazareth 30.

Draw Controls: Nazareth 18, William Smith 9.

Ground Balls: William Smith 23, Nazareth 17.

-- HWS SPORTS --